Life Lessons
by Salt-the-Catgirl
Summary: As Ataru gets ready to send his children Rahmiel and Reskael off on their first day of school, he asks them to promise him one thing.


Ataru Moroboshi stood outside his home, waiting for the school bus. As he waited for the bus that would carry his two children off to their first day of school in Tomobi Kindergarten, the man, now in his mid thirties, reflected on his own youthful days in this same house, this same town and neighborhood. He reflected on his days playing in the local playground when he was his children's age, and younger, and the alien princess Elle he'd once met there. The smile faded from his face as he recalled the trouble that day had caused several years later and his children looked up at him when they felt him squeeze their hands. The next thought in his head was the day he'd met their mother. Once again, this lead to troubled memories.

His son Rahmiel blinked up at Ataru and gave his father's hand a nervous squeeze. Ataru snapped back to the present and smiled at Rahmiel as their eyes met. The boy's eyes were the same shade of amber brown as his fathers, his hair matching the same shade of brown, only with blue and green highlights which he'd inherited from his mother. Ataru gave the boy a reassuring nod, knowing both his children were nervous about starting school, and that quick squeeze of the hand probably unsettled them a bit.

Ataru then turned to look at his daughter, Reskael. The girl was also timidly staring up at him, her big blue eyes mirror images of her mother's. Her shoulder blade length hair was the same beautiful sea foam blue-green as her mothers, with soft pink and purple highlights, turning into the same shade of brown as her father's hair at the tips. Beneath the kids' mandatory school uniforms, each wore a bathing suit made of the same special tiger striped fabric their mother's people wore. Rahmiel's hair was combed over to hide his horns, while Reskael's were hidden by a pair of red ribbons. No sense in frightening their classmates on the first day, after all. Ataru smiled at his daughter and ruffled a gentle, reassuring hand through her hair. There was no doubt in his mind that either of his children would grow up to be stunningly beautiful. Over the last six years, he'd always said they'd gotten their best traits from their mother. Neither of them had inherited their mother's fangs, and aside from being able to fly, and exceptional strength, neither of the Human-Oni-Halflings had shown any signs of special powers, such as their mother's lightning, or their Great-Cousin Ten's fire breathing, or Rei's ability to turn into some weird giant cat demon creature. Aside from the currently well hidden horns, they looked perfectly human.

Very few of their classmates would know who they were, or who their parents were, for that matter, and Ataru and Lum had both preferred to keep it that way in order to allow the children a chance to make friends easier. Sure, there would be kids who would find it 'cool' to know they were Oni. But then there would be kids who would be afraid of them. Any who's parents knew the name Moroboshi would probably already be on edge around them if they'd heard the tales of how many times Ataru and Lum had both nearly destroyed the world, or at least the city several years back. Some kids may even bully them about their horns. The last thing Ataru wanted was for someone to point at either of them during a game of Oni Tag and say, "You're It!" every time the game was played.

His stomach lurched as that thought entered his head. Shadow tag, Oni Tag, just the game in general. He wouldn't change his memories for anything, no matter how troubling they sometimes were. However, that was not the life he wished on his children. Even though they were growing up on Earth, they were royalty on their mother's home planet. They deserved as pleasant a childhood as they could get. He and Lum had never bothered to teach them to play the game, but the children both knew the concept.

Ataru looked up as he heard a horn beep down the road. As the school bus came into view, he looked back down at his children with a smile. They were all nervous about this. The bus wasn't even in front of their house yet, and already he felt a pang of empty nest syndrome. He knelt down and hugged them both tight. The kids had known there was something on his mind, this whole time, and were quietly waiting for him to say it. "You kids have fun today," he said, "Do as your teachers tell you and don't be scared of making new friends, alright?" he said. They both nodded. He smiled. "And whatever you do, I don't care how 'cute' they are, or how much they beg, if someone asks you to play 'Tag', the answer is NO!" he added. The kids nodded again, gave their father one last quick hug, and climbed onto the bus. Ataru rose back to his feet and watched the school bus drive off. "I hope we know what we're doing," he thought aloud with a sigh.

"Darling!" Lum called to him from the doorway, a blush on her face, and a hand placed gently over her stomach. She'd been inside, watching from the windows the whole time. "Come inside, the baby just kicked!"


End file.
